NBA Expert Picks: Best Futures, Finals Picks, and MVP Bets for the 2025-26 Season

You've waited all offseason for it, and now we're just one sleep away.

The 2025-26 NBA season tips off tomorrow. And it's time to finalize your preseason futures portfolio.

To help in that journey, we polled the FanDuel Research NBA staff to see what their favorite bets were entering the season. Below, they'll run through their favorite NBA Finals bet, MVP pick, and more based on FanDuel Sportsbook's NBA betting odds.

Where are they turning for what should be a fun season? Let's check it out.

NBA Expert Futures Bets for This Season

Austin Swaim

Best NBA Finals Bet: Los Angeles Clippers (+1800)

Best NBA MVP Bet: Luka Doncic (+400)

Best NBA Futures Bet: Orlando Magic to Make the Eastern Conference Finals (+260)

The Orlando Magic continue to inch toward the finish line with the fifth-youngest roster in the NBA. Without sacrificing any of their core pieces, they went out and added an elite shooter in Desmond Bane to help with their 29th-ranked effective field goal rate (51.0 eFG%) a season ago. Considering the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers are without their top player all season, Orlando has few other contenders to surpass to reach the conference finals when it's not as if the Cleveland Cavaliers nor New York Knicks are reliable playoff commodities in their own right.

Austan Kas

Best NBA Finals Bet: Denver Nuggets (+700)

Best NBA MVP Bet: Victor Wembanyama (+1200)

Best NBA Futures Bet: Rick Carlisle to Win Coach of the Year (+2500)

Carlisle has been one of the league's better coaches for a long time, and he built the Indiana Pacers into one of the best -- and most fun to watch -- teams in the NBA. The Pacers will almost surely take a step back this year sans Tyrese Haliburton, but I think there's a chance they don't fall quite as far as some people think (they are +142 to make the playoffs). In an Eastern Conference that is difficult to predict outside of the top two or three squads, Indiana could make a push for the top six, and if they do that, Carlisle should be a player in this market.

Annie Nader

Best NBA Finals Bet: Denver Nuggets (+700)

Best NBA MVP Bet: Nikola Jokic (+300)

Best NBA Futures Bet: Dallas Mavericks To Make the Western Conference Semifinals (+370)

The Dallas Mavericks are +370 to win a playoff series this season. Are we just assuming Anthony Davis doesn't stay healthy? I'm not one to vouch for AD's durability, but this Mavs team is too deep and too talented to be considered a total afterthought in the big bad West.

Davis gets to play his preferred role at the four spot with Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford employed at the center position. Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are aging but Cooper Flagg has 82 games to realize his potential. Max Christie, Naji Marshall, and PJ Washington round out a bench full of options. If they stay healthy, Dallas could be taken much more seriously come playoff time.

While I do believe this is Denver's year and the Oklahoma City Thunder show no signs of stopping, the Mavs are my favorite dark horse pick to win the NBA Finals (+3500) this season.

Skyler Carlin

Best NBA Finals Bet: Denver Nuggets (+700)

Best NBA MVP Bet: Luka Doncic (+400)

Best NBA Futures Bet: Points Per Game Leader: Luka Doncic (+430)

Aside from expecting Luka Doncic to win MVP, he's going to have to shoulder more on the offensive end of the floor for the Los Angeles Lakers to begin the season due to LeBron James being sidelined, and we know how lethal Luka is at putting the ball in the basket. Doncic has scored 27-plus points per game in each of his last six seasons -- while leading the league with 33.9 points per game in 2023-24 -- so we just need him to remain relatively healthy for him to be in contention for the scoring title once again.

Riley Thomas

Best NBA Finals Bet: Denver Nuggets (+700)

Best NBA MVP Bet: Victor Wembanyama (+1200)

Best NBA Futures Bet: Cleveland Cavaliers to Win Eastern Conference (+220)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have fallen short in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, failing to make the Eastern Conference Finals in both outings. The 2025-26 season could finally be the Cavs' time to become true NBA Finals contenders. A weakened Eastern Conference helps their case as the Boston Celtics will likely be without Jayson Tatum.

Cleveland returns almost the same roster from a season ago, which had the top offensive rating and eighth-best defensive rating in the regular season. If he stays healthy, Lonzo Ball is an intriguing offseason acquisition that should help the Cavaliers' playmaking. This offense has a chance to be just as good as a season ago, and Evan Mobley's rapid development rounds out Cleveland's nucleus.

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Which NBA futures stand out to you this year? Check out FanDuel Sportsbook's NBA betting odds to see the full menu of options.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.